Madness
by L. D. Nicolescu
Summary: Right before Kushina is released from her cell, she has a life desicion to make based on the last trip she took. It looks like Konoha wants her dead, so she has two option, leave or stay? Sequel to Delirium.


**Madness**

* * *

_"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." _

_Friedrich Nietzsche._

* * *

The hard wind made her hair dance around her, forming another shape that could have been easily confused as another being, yet it was just the strands of red mane surrendering to the winds will. She would have never thought that this particular spot would have such a strong current, but seeing as there was nothing around here to erode, it made sense that she would feel it's full force. Still, even if there was no real danger of anything getting in her eyes, she squinted a little, hoping that would help to make out the shapes behind what she guessed was a setting sun. The closest she had ever been to the desert had been when she had visited the place in which she had awakened a few months ago, near the Lighting country border. She didn't remember much of the night, yet one of her Kumo friends had sworn up and down that this had been the spot where she had singlehandedly killed nearly seventy ninja in less than a few seconds. Still being in the Fire country, the spot had once been covered by lush trees, yet now everything seemed as if someone had burned down the place since not a single plant had been left standing. Even the grass had disappeared, giving place to dirt and death. This reminded her a little of that. Dirt and death. It fit the description of the place.

An even stronger current replaced the olde one, this time making her hair fly forward, covering her face. It was more than an annoyance, she thought, it was a detriment. She should seriously start thinking about cutting it.

"But he likes it long." her voice told her and she turned of her feet to see who it was. It was herself naturally. The exact same features looking back at her, with only her purple dress to differentiate her from herself. "He said so himself."

"He never explicitly said it, thought." Another of her figures argued, wearing a blue dress. This one had her hair up, something she kind of envied, seeing as her own was getting in her eyes. "He just said he thought it was beautiful."

"Doesn't the thought of beauty come with the thought of attraction?" a third one appear, this one seeming more poised and self assured than the other ones, which was confirmed with her black dress. "If he thought it was beautiful, he must have liked it, other wise the thought is just a paradox."

"Paradoxes are part of life." The one in the purple dress philosophized. "And humans have a keen act for them."

"They are the only creature that can love and hate at the same time." the one with the black dress confirmed, nodding along the way. "To create and to destroy is in their nature."

"Yin and yang." The one with the blue dress supplied.

"Light and dark." The one with the purple dress continued.

"Life and death." The one with the black dress added.

"Order and chaos." Kushina sighed for the first time, finally realizing where she was. "So that's why I'm here."

"We are just part of your subconscious mind," black dress looked at her directly. "We are here to help you settle your confusion."

"Your mind will never be able to restore itself if you don't come to terms with what you did." Purple dress warned, looking at the sky distractedly. It was a wonder she made any sense at all, with that level of distraction Kushina would have probably lost her train of thought.

"You are to atone for your sins," blue dress took her hands, squeezing her hands on hers. "For the sins of your father, your brother and your people."

"You are to face your deepest nightmares." Black dress turned her back to her, "and face the world without love."

"You are to give up your most ardent hopes." Purple dress warned once more, this time locking eyes with the original. "You'll have no dreams, no country, no hope."

"You'll be forced to forget to ignore your love, your hope." Black dress looked over her shoulder. "Your essence."

"You'll be forced to do what you hate most," a fourth voice made the earth shake. A voice Kushina knew very well. A voice, she'd hoped had grown silent over the years, yet was the cause of her confusion at this very moment.

"Will you do it?" blue dress squeezed her hands harder, as if the mere force of the action would compel her accept the challenge she was setting upon herself.

"Will you be strong enough?" Black dressed question, obviously not sure about Kushina's resolve.

"Will you give your soul, cape and hate?" purple dress title her head to the side, looking at her with questioning eyes.

"Will you unite us?" the raging voice asked, even making the wind wait in anticipation.

"...and next thing I knew, I was being awaked by a nurse at the hospital." Satoru smiled sheepishly, not looking at him.

Minato had never really noticed, but there was something cute about the way Satoru avoided his questioning gaze. Almost like a child trying to avoid punishment from his parents. Like he has done something wrong and now that the time to admit it has closed down on him, he decided that the best way to get on with things was to deny them. But he wasn't denying them, not entirely. He was just choosing not to tell him the whole story, because surely, surely he didn't make him come over to tell him about the chain of events he had already heard from Kushina.

"And that's when Kushina came to visit you." Minato, said, trying to make it sound like he was asking the Uchiha, but was only confirming something he'd learned from a third party.

The real question was, what had Kushina done to make the higher up treat her like a treason criminal? He knew for fact that she hadn't sold any kind of information to the enemy, for Konoha was finally gaining ground in the front against Kumo, which was mainly because of their surprised attacks, and that could have never worked if they knew it was coming. Less than three people knew about Konoha's most guarded secrets, which were the scrolls the first and second Hokage left after their death and were currently being guarded by trusted allies outside the village, and there had been no further kidnapping from within the village, which would also imply sold information from an insider. So why was the Hokage, his advisers and Danzo being so tight lipped about her arrest?

Satoru's eyes met his own, in a disbelief manner. "So she told you." He stated.

Minato didn't know why, but there was pain in them.

"She didn't." Minato corrected. "Akiho told me."

Recognition light his eyes, thought not in a pleasant way. "Off course. Off course, she told you. That girl never learned to keep her mouth shut. Specially around you." Satoru ran a hand through his hair in as a sign of frustration, searching with his eyes for something behind him, but returning to him when he didn't find what he was looking. "Kushina was forced to feel that night. She was forced to leave the village by the council."

MInato raised his eyebrow at that. Ever since the creation of the village there had been no known cases of forced exile from the council or the higher ups. The rogue ninja that had been produced by Konoha over the years, had been caused by war, rebellion, crimes from within the village, political injustice, death, grief and the very rare cause of a certain ninja that lost his papers on his travels and the day he decided to come back was left out because no one could say for certain who was he. As far a Minato knew, the government had never made a ninja, an outsider ninja who was being protected by Konoha, flee the village. There was just no way. Satoru must know something he wasn't telling him. Something that required a high level of secrecy or he would have told him at the cafe earlier today.

Minato waited for the Uchiha to explain himself, but when he stayed silent, he said, "That's never happened, not even once since the creation of the village."

"That's where you are wrong," Satoru clutched his right wrist, covering something from Minato's view. "It happened to Uchiha Madara."

Minato couldn't help the frown in his face. "Madara wasn't forcefully exiled. He left because he had rebellious ideas of how the village should be run. The first Hokage-"

"Madara was forced to exile by the first council," Satoru raised his voice so he could speak over Minato. "He had rebellious ideas, but it wasn't something that threatened the village at the time."

"A small pebble can cause a mud slide." Minato reasoned wisely, trying to get Satoru to his point. "And besides he left to wage war against Konoha and the Seju vision."

"That's what they teach us at the academy," Satoru countered back, not losing his resolve. "We have Madara's journal, we knew what really happened."

Minato sighed, raising his hands in exasperation. "From Madara's point of view. It's almost as bad as our version. It could even be considered as even more biased."

"I'm not saying he was a saint," Satoru's anger was palpable. "I'm just saying that he's the other case of-"

"Instead of arguing over history, why don't you tell me the reason why Kushina left that night?" Minato sighed in exasperation. "If I know the reason for her actions I might be able to come up with some good arguments to battle the councils reason to keep her imprisoned. There must be something there to-"

"What did you say?" Satoru asked, interrupting him. There was a fire in his eyes that Minato couldn't quite place. "Kushina's been incarcerated? Is she here? In the village? Or is she in another prison near Amegakure?"

Minato opened his eyes in disbelief. He was sure Satoru had known about Kushina's arrest long before he had. Satoru's father was one of the police directors, surely he had commented to his son about -

ANBU white team brought found here hiding near Akita, where over ten Kumogakure ninja were stationed to keep guard on the border. They proved a slight challenge, but after an intense battle the ANBU team successfully captured the subject. She resisted and tried to escape the restrains put on her several times, which lead to the ANBU leader to sedate her until the task to escort her back to the village was received by Danzo himself.

Minato now knew why no one seem to know about Kushina's return, Danzo and his ROOT division were the ones to hunt her down. No wonder the Hokage had been evasive about his constant questions. It also explained the state she was in.

"Answer me!" Satoru had angrily grasped Minato's shoulders, shaking him forcefully. "Have you seen her? Do you know where she is?"

Minato blinked, trying to make sense of the Uchiha's reaction, but his answer came almost instantly. 'He loves her,' he thought, 'just like me.' "Calm down," he said, getting the Uchiha's hands off of him. He had no intention of fighting Satoru, but if things got ugly he would have to immobilize him.

"Cam down." Minato said, dodging a punch from the Uchiha. "I can tell you where she is, but only if you promise me you won't do something stupid like try to break her out."

"It's not stupid." Satoru argued through clenched teeth. "Kushina shouldn't even be in there! She has done nothing wrong! This is all a missundersting! Or a plot for Danzo to-" he cut himself off before could say anymore Minato realized, there was something there Satoru didn't want him to know.

Sighing, and realizing that Satoru wouldn't have any intention of talking unless he had no other choice, Minato came at him, throwing a punch that connected with the Uchiha's jaw. He was far to slow for Minato and it showed with the way that he tried and failed to strike him back. The other strikes and the arm twisted weren't so serious that Minato would be forced to take Satoru back to the hospital, but it drove the point at home. If he wanted to talk, he would have to contain his rage or else Minato wouldn't tell him what he knew.

"What Danzo?" Minato asked, bending Satoru's arm a little more painfully. The Uchiha didn't exactly whimpered, but his body tensed considerably. "What does he want with Kushina?"

"Shouldn't you know?" Satoru asked, trying to break free of Minato's hold, but failed miserably. "You are the next in line for the Hokage position, you should know all of the village's secrets."

"This is not the time for stupid jokes," Minato sighed impatiently releasing Satoru from his hold. "If you tell me what you know about Kushina, I'll tell you want I know and that way we can piece together that information. If Danzo wants something for Kushina that neither the Hokage nor the advisers know about..." he lost his train of thought, because he didn't exactly knew what would happen. All he was sure off was that Danzo knew something he didn't, something that involved someone he loved.

Satoru stretched his arm glaring pointedly at Minato. Even if he hadn't really complained, Minato knew that there had been some sort of small damage on the shoulder joint. Satoru might have to visit the hospital after all in the morning. None the less, the Uchiha spoke.

"What do you remember about the night we were attacked by the Iwagakure platoon?" Satoru didn't meet his eyes. "About the night I died?"

What did he remember? A lot of blood and dead bodies, that was what. Everything else just seemed to have gone blurry and get confused by the other battles he had been forced to engage in these past few months. Except one thing:

"Kushina...she...exploded..." Minato tried to piece together small flashes of memories he had of that night. "She...she wasn't herself. She had grown disturbed when she saw you lying there. There was an explosion and next thing I know, Kushina is holding this black...chakra ball in her hand with around fifty bodies around her. Enemies and allies alike." Minato frowned wondering what had happened next. Everything after that was blackness, the eerie sense of being carried away, the excruciating pain of someone treating his wounds and the calm sensation when the doctors finally administered pain killers on him. 'Save her,' a voice in his head seemed to be saying. 'Minato, save her.'

"Kushina put a real special seal on me that night." Satoru began, his gaze looking over the now silent village. "She brought me back from the dead with her chakra."

"That's not possible." Minato instinctively said, knowing that a jutsu that convinient couldn't possibly exist. There was a rumor that the Second Hokage had managed to find a way to bring the dead back, but it seemed just too convenient to be true. And besides, no one had ever proved it could be done.

Satoru looked back a him, a exasperated look on his face. "It is," he continued, "and she did. With this." And that's when Minato finally saw what Satoru had been hiding all this time. A seal on his right wrist. The kind of indentical seal he had seen on Kushina's wrist a few days ago.

"What is that?" Minato couldn't help but ask, despite the obvious answer. Kushina had once told him that the more simple design a seal had, the more complicated they tended to be, so he was intrigued to know what kind of seal this one was.

"It's a seal link seal." Satoru explained running his fingers around the tattooed skin. "It links the people who wear it."

Minato never took his eyes of it, thought the frown in his face deepened. "Link them how?"

"If I ever loose control of the Kyubi you must kill me before I can hurt anyone else. Promise me, Sato. Promise me you won't hesitate."

"It links the people who wear it. It means that Kushina's chakra and my chakra are intertwined."

"You over exhausted the limit of chakra that you used. You forced yourself to use all the chakra you had stored in your body, even the amount you use to keep yourself alive. Since your body didn't have any more strength to bring you back to life, I had to use this to use my chakra to fee your body."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means, that the chakra that runs through your body, is mine."

"What does that mean?" Minato asked, more confused that ever.

Saotru sighed, not liking the part that was coming. He was going to be forced to explain this, and the secret that Kushina had been keeping from everyone else too. She wasn't going to be too happy with him when he was done.

"It means," Satoru raised his eyes from the village below and set them on Minato's blue ones, keeping his face as devoid of emotion as he could. "It means that Kushina feeds me her chakra and that's what's keeping me alive."

Seeing her out of jail a few weeks later wasn't that much of a relief. He didn't know why either. All he'd bee trying to do, ever since he'd find out she'd been imprisoned, was to have the Hokage approve her freedom, something he could if he proved to the higher ups that she wasn't a threat to anyone. She wasn't, he had argued vehemently over the the last few weeks. He had believed it. That is till his talk with Satoru over a week ago.

At first he hadn't believed a thing the Uchiha had said. Not because he believed he was a liar, but because things were far too unbelievable. A seal that could connect the lives and chakra of the people who were wearing it? How was that even possible? And the sole fact that the Uchiha had died made everything all that much complicated. How had Kushina brought someone back to life? That was not possible. He knew it. And so did everyone else, no matter how much the rumors of the Second Hokage's just flew around. When you died, you stayed dead. Those were the laws of nature. Or so he thought.

"Even if that's true, and I'm not saying I believe all of it. How is Kushina still alive after preforming such seal? Isn't her chakra supposed to be transferred to you? I don't know anyone that could survive the sharing of their chakra."

"You should know better than anyone that Kushina's not normal. She has an abnormal amount of chakra in her. She has more chakra than you and I together."

"That doesn't mean she has that much to spare. Even if just a infinitely small amount were to leak to you, she would-"

"It's not just hers."

"What?"

"She's not the only one allowing me to live. She has someone that helps her keep herself alive."

"And who is that? Buddah?"

"The Kyuubi"

If what Satoru had said was true and Kushina was really a Jinchuuriki, then half of her chakra went to Satoru's survival, while the other half struggled to keep the Kyuubi sealed inside her body.

"On her stomach there is a seal that looks like an eye. It's what keeps the tailed beast contained."

Maybe that had been what had exploded that time. The emotion of seeing her long time friend laying there lifeless had triggered an emotion so powerful that had allowed the Kyuubi to take control, even if it had been for a little while. And that jutsu...that black ball that rotated in her palm but still kept the shape of a sphere. Had that been the Kyuubi's doing too? And how could he be certain that she would not explode once more? And what exactly triggered that reaction? Was the seal that kept the Kyuubi locked away weakening? If what Satoru had said was true, and again, he didn't know up until what point believe him, then Kushina was far more dangerous than he realized.

The sound of a door opening snapped him out of his thoughts. He hadn't noticed the time when the village higher ups had arrived but there were already there, facing the opened door. Through it walked two ANBU captains and two chunnin that worked on as guards on Kushina's cell. Every since his break in, security down there had been tightened. Still, he had wondered how the Hokage pretended for two Chunin to fight Kushina if she ever decided to escape. Maybe her malnutrition would pay a part on that. She couldn't fight her captors of she was weak. The two Chunin nodded to the Hokage and left the room, leaving the office with a heavily guarded Kushina, the Hokage and the village advisors, the ANBU had disappeared a few moments prior. If she decided to attack, he was sure they were more than enough to subside her. She wasn't at her full strength after all.

The silence that followed was awkward. No body tried to say anything after that. They all stared a the prisioner as if she were the cause of all their problems, which Minato now realized, they were judging her for. That last attack from Iwagakure that had cost so many lives on their part was on Kushina's head, since they thought she had sold them out to the enemy. Maybe their were silently judging her about that? But looking at the now, Minato knew they were all thinking very different things.

Homura, wore his perpetual scowl. Ever since he had met the man on the real terms a future Hokage was to meet his future council, Minato had never seen the man relax in his life. He often had tea parties for the most powerful villagers, but that was as much as he was involved in the decisions of the village. He trusted Sarutobis decisions and only voiced his point of view if he really didn't like how things were being handled. Now, no doubt, he was thinking of what punishment were they going to put Kushina through.

Koharu, wore a similar expression to her team mate. Her eyes were squinted and her mouth had a downturn a the end of it. She wasn't looking at Kushina, but it was clear that her presence in the office caused her fear, for she was standing as far away from her as possible, while at the same time, trying to appear cool and collected. For as long as Minato had known her, he had never hear her speak openly about things, choosing to criticizes and voice her opinion on her actions, mostly, making other key people disagree on things Sarutobi had planned for the Village.

Danzo was something else. Not only did he have that scowl on his face, but he was studying Kushina that reminded him too much of his sensei. It had always been clear to Minato that Kushina was an attractive girl, with her creamy skin and red hair, but he never had to worry about guys hitting on her, since her brash personality and loud way of talking made guys think twice on speaking to her. Still, the old man had this look on his face that made Minato clench his teeth. It was almost like he was thinking of way of using her to his advantage.

Sarutobi on the other hand looked conflicted. He had watched and practically raised Kushina ever since she had arrived on the village. He knew this because more often than not, when Kushina addressed him, she would call him "old man" instead of "Hokage-sama" like it was required to do. The Hokage didn't seem to mind either, since for some reason he had a soft spot for Kushina in his heart. Yet, now as he watched the red head, Minato could clearly see conflict in his eyes. Was it because he had had to arrest someone he liked to think as family? And the fact that he would have to punish her in a real severe way to drive the point across? Or was there somethings else there that conflicted with everything that was happening at the moment? Something he didn't know about?

"What is it?" Kushina's hoarse voice echoed through the empt office making Minato jump. He hadn't been expecting her to break the silence. It was clear she was eager to get this over with.

"Uzumaki Kushina," Homura cleared his throat, "you've accused off treason for colaborating and selling information on the village to the enemy. More pointedly, selling information and being protected by the Kumo army."

"When you were brought here and more importantly, when you were given your hitai-ate, you pledge your loyalty to the village, and yet Root ANBU found you being hidden by a very elite team of Kumo. One of those shinobi being their eight tails jinchuuriki."

Minato looked at Danzo with eyes wide open. He hadn't read that on the report. All it had said was that they had found her being hidden by Kumo elite, but there was nothing about a jinchuuriki in there. Danzo was the capital of the Root ANBU, there was no surprise there on the fact that he knew more than he was telling.

"Did you sell them information for protection?" Danzo pressed on, his face never betraying anything. "Were you the one that caused the loss of so many lives on the battle at the Waterfall Village?"

Kushina never looked up, her face as still and emotionless as the one that he had seen a the prison the other day, only this time she wasn't bound to the wall.

"Or did you show them some more efficient sealing techniques?" Danzo pressed on, taking a step forward. Her silence was obviously annoying him. "We have intel that they finally got their hands on the two tails, yet they weren't sure on how to seal him. Your clan-"

"What is it?" Kushina interrupted, asking the question once more. She wasn't forceful on her tone, but there was something there that commanded everyone to take a step back. Her patience was running low. When she got no response over that, she looked up, not bothering to scan the room but focusing solely on the Hokage. There was something there, something that wasn't part of her. Something Minato was starting to fear. "What is it?"

Minato looked over at the Hokage, who had been silent through all this. He was more serious than he had ever seen the old man get, his brown eyes dark with emotion. He took a slow drag for his pipe and exhaled, closing his eyes and lifting his chin while he did it. He took another drag and exhaled once more, this time focusing his eyes on Kushina, clearly preparing himself to what was to come.

"Uzushiogakure has disappeared."


End file.
